CSO petitions ICPC, seeks trial of INEC officials for forgery in Edo Election
A Civil Society Organization, CSO, TAP Initiative, on Tuesday, filed a petition before the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, demanding the prosecution of some officials that were involved in the recent governorship election that held in Edo State.
Specifically, the petitioner called for a thorough investigation and trial of some of the adhoc staff the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, used for the conduct of the election, alleging that they engaged in acts of forgery.
The CSO, which submitted the petition at the headquarters of the ICPC in Abuja, said it would not hesitate to seek a fiat from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, should the anti-corruption agency fail to act on its demand.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the petition was accepted by the ICPC on Tuesday, the Executive Director of TAP Initiative, Mr. Martin Obono, further threatened to petition the European Union and other international agencies to stop sending funds INEC, saying it appeared the electoral body “has taken over rigging from politicians.”
According to the group, it was worried that INEC allowed its officials to be compromised during elections.
Obono said his organization discovered the alleged criminal action of some INEC staff members, after it obtained the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Edo governorship election results.
He told newsmen that the group uncovered lots of discrepancies in the CTC of the election results, prominent among which he said included the absence of signatures of polling unit agents and presiding officers.
More so, the group said the discrepancies in the certified election results propelled it to engage a forensic expert from South Africa, who carried out analysis that established that there were manipulation of results at the collation centers.
It said an analysis conducted by the expert established that forms EC8A were compromised at the collation centers where only one person signed all the documents, adding that the forms bore same serial numbers but different election results.
“It is regrettable that INEC is involved in institutional electoral fraud. INEC ought to be a gate keeper but it is now involved in direct rigging, and changing the will of the people.
“We will take a step further to write the United Kingdom, United States of America, European Union and other foreign donors to stop funding election in Nigeria, since they are being defrauded by the electoral body,” the petitioner stated.
The group, therefore, demanded that all those involved in subverting the will of the electorates must be brought to justice, saying it was not satisfied with the apology that was recently tendered by INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmud Yakubu.
“We are aware of the apology that was recently tendered by INEC Chairman, but apology does not erase criminality committed against the people,” Obono added.
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